One Paper Crane
by GreenBinderGirl
Summary: [AU, Sasuke x Hinata] Sasuke would always visit her while she was sleeping. And every time he visited her, he would leave one paper crane. Just one.


**Quick Author's Notes:** I'm unsure of whether or not Hinata gets into a situation where it's life-or-death. So, this story isn't really about them being ninjas and stuff, it's one of those stories where they're normal people. Hinata's in the hospital and Sasuke visits her every day, isn't that sweet? This is my apology for lack of updates. A Sasuhina one-shot. For lack of a better title, I called it "One Paper Crane". Sort of stupid, but whatever.

By the way, I don't know about Neji's parents and who they are related to with the main Hyuuga branch, so I'm just making it up and hoping that it's correct. Also, I know nothing of burn victims. I've only been to the hospital because of broken bones, so I'm riding on my experiences that I can remember. I'll shut up now…-backs away slowly-

**One Paper Crane**

Hinata Hyuuga was lucky.

She was one of the few who survived the fire. Her mother, father and younger sister died. The only ones who survived were her mother's sister, her husband and her son, Neji. And her.

But not without a price.

The skin on Hinata's arms were nearly burned off, the flesh shiny and raw. Her thick sweatshirt was singed and frayed when they brought her to the hospital. A narrow cut ran alongside her belly, caused by the metal pole that fell on her from the ceiling. A couple ribs were bruised and broken from the beam. Her legs were surprisingly okay—but still; she stayed in the hospital for a long time.

For the first two months, her cousin's family came to visit her. Neji brought her a bag of her things that was rescued from the charred remains of their home. Neji and everyone else hadn't suffered much. Hinata was glad. She hugged the plastic bag closely to her chest as Neji walked away. The possessions weren't much, but they were all she had left.

Every day, a young man with black hair would visit Hinata while she was sleeping. He claimed to be an old friend of hers; Sasuke Uchiha. He would leave one paper crane, just one, then leave. And every day, Hinata would wake up to one paper crane—just one—on her bedside table. Every day the paper crane was a different colour.

When he would leave the crane, Sasuke would tell the nurse, "If she asks, please don't tell her who gave it to her."

"What should I say?" The nurse asked. Sasuke thought, then replied, "Say that it's from…a secret admirer."

And the nurse would smile a little and mutter, "Okay." But Sasuke would already have left by the time the words left her mouth.

* * *

Four months later, Hinata woke up to another paper crane on her table. It was a small, dark blue paper crane with beautifully folded wings. "Whoever leaves these cranes must be very handy with paper," she murmured to herself. 

Hinata spent most of her time in the hospital stringing together the paper cranes her "secret admirer" left for her. The string formed a perfect rainbow or paper cranes. Hinata smiled happily as she strung the dark blue crane in line with the others. "I think I know who he is."

* * *

A couple of weeks later, her nurse announced that Hinata was ready to leave the hospital. "Do you have a relative where you can live?" she asked, not unkindly. 

Hinata just smiled a broken smile and said, "Yes, my cousin Neji-niisan."

"Good."

Hinata gathered up her small plastic bag and the string of paper cranes, and was about to leave when something she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. On her table was another paper crane, but this one was much grander than the others. It was light purple with small blue swirls painted on each wing. The paper was strong and sturdy, guaranteed never to rip in the years to come. Hinata gasped softly as she fingered it. It even had tiny black eyes.

"Oh," she said softly. "It's…beautiful."

She picked the crane up and brought it close to her. _Who could spend this much time making these paper cranes? _She wondered. _Each one is perfectly designed…it must take hours to make it. I must find a way to thank them, somehow._

Lying next to crane was a piece of paper.

_Please meet me at six o'clock, on the bench in Walnut Grove Park. I need to tell you something._

_-Sasuke Uchiha_

* * *

Hinata's aunt and uncle were very hospitable. They had a spare guestroom that was formed into Hinata's bedroom. Hinata hung the paper cranes on a hook over her door. She grinned, shut off the light, and fell asleep. 

Two hours later Hinata woke up and glanced at the clock. It was five-fifty—she remembered with a jolt that she was supposed to meet Sasuke at the park. Sasuke was Hinata's oldest friend, but lately she hadn't seen him. He often had too much to do—homework, after school activities, et cetera. Despite this, the two of them remained friends.

It was a gloomy and rainy day. Hinata sighed wistfully; she didn't like rainy days. It made her feel sad for some reason. She grabbed an umbrella and a coat and headed out the door.

"Where are you going, Hinata?" her aunt called from the kitchen.

"I-I'm meeting a friend," Hinata replied hesitantly.

* * *

It wasn't merely raining outside, it was _pouring_. There weren't many people out on the street. Hinata stopped and stared into a puddle. Her reflection was wavering, her pale skin and dark hair contrasting with the grey skies. Hinata's eyes were blue, the lightest shade of blue imaginable. It was so light that many people thought her eyes were white. 

_Oh no, I have to hurry! _She thought. _I'm going to be late! _She ran through the puddle, destroying the image, and dashed across the street to the park.

Sasuke was already sitting on the bench. He was holding a black, spidery umbrella that didn't look up to the task of securing him from the rain and wind. His coat was soaked through and his black hair was plastered to his head.

"Sasuke!" Hinata shouted, and rushed over to him. "Y-You look freezing…you should have worn something warmer, or used a different umbrella. I-It's foolish to wear only a spring jacket in autumn…" Hinata's words trailed off as Sasuke stood up.

"Hinata." He was whispering for some reason. "Um…I'm glad that you are all right."

Hinata didn't know what to say. So she didn't say anything.

"I visited you every day while you were in the hospital. But I only came while you were asleep. You took a nap at the same time, at one o'clock, after lunch. Sometimes I'd stay for a long time and just watch you sleep."

Hinata still didn't know what to say. She curled her hand into a fist and brought it up to her chest, where she toyed with the zipper of her coat. Sasuke went on.

"But a lot of times I could only stay long enough for a couple of minutes. Every single day I visited you, I gave you one paper crane."

Hinata's blue-white eyes widened.

"It…It was y-you?" She said. "You were the one who made those wonderful paper cranes?" Sasuke nodded.

"I read a story when I was little," he said. "A Japanese girl got sick and had to stay in the hospital. Every day her best friend would come and drop off one paper crane, only one. She kept this up until there were a thousand paper cranes, and eventually the Japanese girl got better. Paper cranes are good luck. I wanted you to have good luck, too."

"Sasuke…I-I…I took all of your cranes and tied them together," Hinata confessed. "They are all hanging above my door at Neji-niisan's house…"

"Good," Sasuke said. "Then you _will _always have good luck."

Sasuke reached for Hinata's hand, which was still toying with her zipper. Sasuke's hands were so cold…

"I have one more crane to give you," he whispered. Out of his pocket he pulled out a pure white paper crane. It wasn't as fancy as the one he gave her when she left the hospital, nor as simple as the others. There was something about it that seemed…different. It almost radiated an ethereal feel.

"Oh…" Hinata whispered. Sasuke pushed the crane into her hand.

"Look inside," he said, and walked away before Hinata could protest.

So Hinata, wondering what he meant, unfolded one of the crane's wings. Scrawled inside, in small, neat black letters, were three words.

_**I love you.**_

"Sasuke…" Hinata looked over at the direction where Sasuke had walked off. "S-Sasuke…I-I…I love you too…"

Author's Notes:

Yes, I know that they were OOC. I don't care.

I started this with something else in mind, then it turned into something completely different. Well not completely different, but slightly different from the original plan. I hope you liked it, took me a half-hour to write this I think…


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